- Hello, I'm Dr. Michael McDonald.I'm a professor of finance and consultant to industry.I've been teaching forecasting, using data,for more than a decade, to financial firms,Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.In this course, I'm going to show youhow to effectively use economic datain practical business forecasting settings.Data analytics is one of the hottest growth areasin business and it is a key opportunityfor those looking to develop their career.

In this course I will demonstratehow to gather data from government sources,like the Federal Reserve, and use that datato forecast critical variables,like property prices and interest rate hikes.We'll explore a variety of different types of forecasts,from time series exponential smoothing,to fixed effects regressions,to difference in difference estimators.Please join me know, and let's get started.

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Released

7/6/2017

Big data is transforming the world of business. Yet many people don't understand what big data and business intelligence are, or how to apply the techniques to their day-to-day jobs. This course addresses that knowledge gap by showing how to use large volumes of economic data to gain key business insights and analyze market conditions.

Professor Michael McDonald demonstrates how to harness the wealth of information available on the Internet to forecast statistics such as industry growth, GDP, and unemployment rates, as well as factors that directly affect your business, like property prices and future interest rate hikes. All you need is Microsoft Excel. Michael uses the built-in formulas, functions, and calculations to perform regression analysis, calculate confidence intervals, and stress test your results. He also covers time series exponential smoothing, fixed effects regression, and difference estimators. You'll walk away from the course able to immediately begin creating forecasts for your own business needs.

Topics include:

Understanding big data and economic forecasting

Predicting values with regressions

Analyzing economic trends and economic cycles

Using fixed-effects regressions and binary regressions for forecasting